Two years after being diagnosed with breast
cancer, Jenn McCrea completed her first Ironman
Triathlon.

“I finished last,” she laughs, “but I finished! My
kids were there, everybody cheered for me and it
was a great moment. And I was there because my
cancer was caught so early.”
Cancer runs in McCrea’s family: her father had
genetic screening in 2005 and tested positive for a
gene mutation that increases the risk of breast and
ovarian cancer. This led to McCrea being screened
for the same gene. She also tested positive.

McCrea was referred to the Breast Cancer
Supportive Care Foundation for high-risk surveillance. This included alternating
mammograms and breast magnetic resonance
imaging (MRI) every six months, regular clinical
breast exams, being more active, eating more
healthy foods and ongoing counselling and
support.

Ultimately, an MRI changed everything and she
was diagnosed with stage 0 breast cancer on July

18, 2011. The diagnosis meant she had the disease
but it hadn’t spread.

“My kids were with me in the room, my doctor
and I were crying together,” McCrea recalls.

“Even at stage 0 it’s still very, very scary—it’s
still the word cancer.”
The good news was the cancer’s early detection.

“The earlier the stage you find the cancer, typically
the lower the risk and the better the long-term

vi Health Matters: A Calgary & Area Primary Care Networks Publication

My story

prognosis,” Dr. Ardythe Taylor of Breast Cancer
Supportive Care and part of the Calgary West
Central PCN explains. “Between five to 10 per cent
of people who develop breast cancer have a gene
mutation.”
A month after her diagnosis, McCrea had a double
mastectomy and was home the next day. “I was
bandaged up and in discomfort, but I was alive,
right?” she says. “The team at Breast Cancer
Supportive Care had mentally prepared me for the
fact that I might eventually need this surgery, so I
was ready.”
“For me, having the gene mutation, wasn’t a
matter of if I would get cancer, it was when,” she
says. “It was coming for me, and it was going to be
bad. Screening was key.”

— Brett Tiesmaki

Your family’s history of cancer is an
important factor in genetic screening for
cancer. Ask your family doctor if you qualify
for a referral.